Mandy's Origin
by Aero Tendo
Summary: A story that predates the usual Ranma 12 crew. They will show up, acting pretty much as we all know and love them to be, but they'll be more like side-liners. Still this story will have many familiar scenes, and a few twists to throw you. grin


The Origin of Mandy The Panda-Girl

(Author's note: The story takes place before Ranma shows up to meet Akane for the first time.) 

(Scene starts at a place called St. Hebereke School for Girls) 

Mandy tosses her hoop and the girl that was practicing with her leaps out of the way, throwing some bowling pins at her in return. Suddenly there is the whistle of their female coach called Ginger "Alright girls, that's it for today. Go take a shower and remember tomorrow is the tournament!" 

The girl who Mandy had been practicing with comes up to her and says, "Hey Mandy, that was some workout we had today wasn't it?" Mandy looks back at the girl whose green eyes and bouncy moves had earned her the nickname "Spring" by most of the girls but she didn't go by nicknames much and replies, "Yeah it was but, we need all the practice we can get before the big tournament, Shelia." 

Shelia had been secretly jealous of Mandy when she first joined up. Mandy had already been among the top 5 best and had quickly worked her way up to becoming the best, but because Mandy never cheated and was always a good sport. No one ever really hated her, even Shelia who had grown to like Mandy and even considered her to be one of her close friends since getting to know her. 

The two girls join the rest in the shower, and after a while come out in their street clothes. (What, you readers think I'm going to describe a bunch of naked girls taking a shower? Naughty-Naughty s.) Mandy and Shelia were joined by a few others from their classes while unawares that they were being watched by their school's rival science team, from high up in a tree that was tall enough to look over the school's twelve foot walls because two of the girls that joined Mandy and Shelia were from their school's science team. 

Mandy says, "Hi Luan, Hi Carla" to the two science girls that had joined the small group "Are you guys ready for the Science Tournament coming up in today?" Carla grinned as she shares a look with Luan "Oh yeah! I think we're going to knock their socks off this year." Luan laughs and says, "Those guys from Furikan High are so bad, the only way they'd win if they somehow sabotaged our project!" 

Carla gives Luan a somewhat worried look and says, "That's what I'm worried about Luan, what if they try to do that?" Luan smiles to the whole group and says "Don't worry, the project is safe where even those bumbling idiots can't get their hands on it." 

(Meanwhile up in a tree, a guy is reading lips through some binoculars) 

The other guy up in the tree says, "What are they saying? Let me see!" before trying to grab the binoculars from his partner. "What? No way! Since when could you ever read lips?" This causes the guy to grumble and stares out at the group of girls, "Well, then Mr. I-can-read-lips… what are they saying Warren?" Warren says, "Its hard to make out, too many of them are talking at the same time. I think they've just insulted us, calling us idiots… and they feel their project is safe, Fox" Fox grumbles "It is probably hidden someplace where we'll never find it." Warren lowers the binoculars from his eyes and looks at Fox, "Well then we'll just have to go with Plan B." 

(Back at the group of girls) 

Mandy says, "Yeah, I think we have a really good shot of winning Carla. The team has trained really hard this year." Carla nods and says, "Good luck Mandy. I just know it'll be a good match, and I can't wait to see it." Mandy says, "Thanks Carla, I don't think it'll be easy, I heard that they got some tough competition at the other school." 

The girls start to break up and go their separate ways as they walk out the school gates with school being over for the rest of the day. 

(Back at the Furikan High School, the science guys are plotting something…) 

Max, their resident genetics expert says "I think if we can capture and turn one of them into a panda, the other girls will surrender so they can turn their friend back into a girl" Fox says "How do you propose that we do that?" Max grins "Easy… I have taken the genetic code from a Panda at the zoo. All we have to do is get her to drink even so much as a drop and it'll change her into a Panda until we change her back into a girl with holds up a vial in one hand this my fellow Science Club members…" Max starts to laugh in a poor copy of an evil laugh, with the rest of them joining in soon. 

(Early, the next day)   
Mandy was visiting Luan's house for a manga that she'd leant to her earlier. "Thanks for returning the comic Luan." Mandy says as she holds it up in the air, indicating it. "You're welcome Mandy, and thanks for letting me borrow it. It was really funny." Luan says as she smiles. 

(Outside are two of Furikan's Science Club members, Max and Warren as they set a trap for Luan) 

Warren whispers "Are you sure this stuff you made will work and turn her into a Panda?" Max looks indignant and says, "Yes! If the trap you made works right!" Suddenly there is a sound and they both scramble to hide behind some bushes, and manage to hide just as Mandy and Luan walk to the front door, stopping on the edge of it. 

Luan walks out first and stands right on top of the trap trigger, making Max look at Warren as if he's saying, "What happened to the trap??" with an embarrassed and flustered Warren looking away to the trap. Warren softly whispers, "Why didn't the trap work?" to himself as he continues to watch. 

Luan says "C'mon we're going to be late for school if we don't hurry!" Mandy says, "Ok! Let me just grab my satchel and off we go!" and Luan steps off the trap and there is a subtle click and Mandy steps out onto the trap. Mandy with her training sees some movement from above and yells "Look out Luan!" pushing her away with the satchel and raising her other hand up to block whatever it is coming at her. 

Unfortunately for Mandy the contents of the jury rigged injector which is in a glass vial to begin with is shattered when she slams her hand onto it is knocked up into the sky, covering Mandy all over and some even splashes into her mouth which tastes awful to her. Pieces of the glass cut her, making some of it enter her blood as well. 

Luan yells, "Mandy! Are you alright?" taking in the sight of her friend with small cuts on her hand and covered from hand to shoulders in the strange liquid. Mandy spits out some of the strange, vile liquid that she had splashed into her mouth and says, "Yeah… I think I'm alright Luan, just a little wet." Luan's eyes widen as she stares at Mandy in surprise as Mandy starts to grow fur before her very eyes. Mandy, doesn't notice the change yet and says, "What's wrong Luan?" and Luan just looks at her and says "You-Your fur!" 

Mandy says, "What? I don't have…seeing the fur on her hand growing quickly and shrieks in surprise FUR!!!" 

Just then Max jumps out from behind the bushes and laughs evilly while holding a vial in his hand "Hahahaha! And you shall become a full Panda within minutes!" Causing both girls to look at each other for a moment then turn back to face Max and yells, "WHAT??" Max, never for one to be daunted by failure, even one as getting Mandy instead of Luan. Just grins and says "If your friend Luan agrees to sabotage their project, I'll give you this waving the vial around between two of his fingers and you can become a normal girl again." 

Luan droops her shoulders and bows her head, and before she can start to say "Ok…" Mandy, who looks extremely mad reaches out for the vial, encasing most of her hand around the lower half of it while Max has his over the upper half of the vial. Max yells "Hey! Let go! This is mine!" while Mandy looks at Max in the eyes as she tightens the grip on the glass vial and yells back "No Way! I'm taking this cure!" Max yells again at Mandy as he attempts to pull it free from her hand "No! Not until after the superior Science Club has won!" 

Luan attempts to end this by saying, "Mandy, let it go… they can win and you can return to normal…" Mandy swings her furry face around to look back at Luan, "Maybe you can handle being a real Panda for a few hours, but I don't want too!" and grips the vial more tightly, causing small cracks over its surface but no one notices with two hands almost completely covering it. 

Max says loudly, "Listen to your friend, I'll even bring you a couple of branches for you to gnaw on while you're a panda." with a bit of a sneer at the end and Mandy swings her furry face back to Max with eyes full of furry. Attempting one last time to pull the vial from Max's hand, she grips it tightly and pulls down as she twists her hand, causing the vial to crack loudly and again, glass shards dig into Mandy's hand as some break and cut Max's hand as well. 

Max's eyes widen in horror and yells "NOOO!!! You broke the vial you… you…!" and goes speechless as he realizes his hand was cut! Meaning that the chemicals are in his blood now! Turning around Max runs off in the direction of Furikan and yelling "I'll get you for this Mandy! If it's the last thing I do!" and disappears around the corner of the street. Mandy starts to look like she's about to cry when Luan yells "Mandy! Your hand!" Before she points at it where she is still holding the broken shards of the bottom half and a few drops of blood drip down to the sidewalk. Mandy looks down at her hand and suddenly looks happy as she turns to Luan and says "The cure! I got it into me after all!" 

Mandy looks down at thick, furry hands and slowly, it starts to recede, her figure which hand started to become one of that which was a large, panda. She smiles as her girlish figure returns along with her human hair upon her head. Her hands and feet becoming less paw-like and more human until it finally stops changing but she is still half panda and half girl with the most obvious clues besides her thin fur is her ears. There is a long pause as both girls stare at Mandy, expecting some change, any change to happen at any moment but it never does. 

Luan slowly raises her hand to say while trying to sound hopeful, "Mandy… maybe, maybe it'll wear off completely a little later?" Mandy just takes her arms and buries her face into them as she still remembers her hands are cut and starts to cry, sinking to her knees. Luan kneels with her, keeping her hand on Mandy's shoulder for support, and to let her know she's there for her. 

Luan thinks to herself "This is all my fault… If she hadn't tried to protect me, she could have dodged out of the way and none of this wouldn't have happened to her…" Tears well up in Luan's eyes as she clenches her other hand into a fist and looks in the direction that Max had run off into, thinking, "Max, I hope you get what is coming to you… because if you don't, I'll make sure you do one way or another…" 

(Meanwhile at that very moment a person is running, trying to keep out of sight from everyone as it approaches Furikan High with Warren following close by) 

Max whispers, "Do you see anyone Warren?" Warren gives a long look around the corner and whispers back "Its clear" and they both run quickly through the gates and hide behind some trees as a couple of students walk by, oblivious to Warren and Max's presence.   


Max whispers as his voice sounds more and more female by the minute "We've got to hurry…" as he covers himself up with a blanket that he stole from a clothes line on the way to the school as he realized he was starting to grow breasts. Warren looks back at Max, but all he can see is a pair of female-looking legs sticking out from under the blanket as the rest is tightly pulled around him. Warren says, "Any faster and you might be spotted…" thinking for a moment before saying, "Do you really think you can whip up a male potion in time?" with silence as his answer. 

Using school hallways that were rarely used that early; Max and Warren manage to make it into the classroom. It also served as the lab and place for them to hold their Science Club meetings and the only place where Max had created the stuff in the vials. Only to find that the lab had been blown up by one of Fox's failed attempts of making a bomb to wipe out the rival Science Club. 

It was clear that no one was going to be making anything from the lab with windows blown out, desks scarred and otherwise destroyed, along with the most important thing Max needed… his notebook that contained all his notes which had sat next to where the blast had been and it was in ashes. 

Max collapses to her knees; numb fingers release the blanket covering Max to reveal a complete and gorgeous, young woman underneath dressed in a guy's white Science Club jacket and clothing. Clenching her fists she screams at the top of her lungs, "NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The sound is sent echoing throughout the school, and puzzling many of the students that are arriving and those that are already in class. 

  
  


**_The End! (or is it?)_**   
  
  
  
Part 2 

Max looks at the mess and yells out to the room, "I can't stay a girl forever!" Max then looks up slowly from the destroyed room and Warren looks back down sadly at him. He leans down over the female Max and says, "Look, it doesn't have to be forever… we can fix up the classroom like we always have and then you'll be able to make it in no time…"

Max sighs and says in his new female voice "But… all my notes were in here. I'd have to start from scratch again, and I'm not sure I could duplicate what I need without them."

Just then Max looks away to survey the damage and doesn't realize just how much he has changed yet since the shirt he wore is now taunt over his new breasts and with the white coat that was the trademark of the Science Club, now hangs open Warren got quite a nose-bleeding look before he looked away and thought to himself "No! This is Max! Not some beautiful girl!" but his eyes slowly drifted to the still kneeling Max and thought to himself "Well… ok, he is beautiful" 

Max starts to look back up at Warren, to which Warren quickly looks away and trying to look as if he was looking over the damage and says, "You're not going to tell anyone about my… seems to be out of words and indicates the new female body changes are you?" 

Warren looks at Max and says, "Well, the other guys are going to have to know…" Max yells "NO! They can't know! They'd just make fun of me!" Looking up at Warren, Max says more softly, "Please… tell them anything, we can tell them I had to leave town suddenly." 

Warren sighs as he says "But right before we're to go up against our rivals? Do you really think they're going to buy that?" Max says, "They have to, at least… its something I doubt they'll care about…" 

Warren says, "And how are we going to explain you to them?" Max looks silently at the room in thought, before saying "We could say I'm some relative of mine that they haven't met yet." Warren says, "I could claim you're my girlfriend so they wouldn't try to hit on you." 

Max's eyes widen in surprise "You're right! I… looks down at herself I guess… that would be the better option than having them hit on me every time." Max ponders this for a while and looks sad before saying," But what kind of name can I give them? I can't go around calling myself Max, because they might figure it out." Warren says, "How about Maxine? It is close enough to your real name, 'Max' that you can still respond to it and explain it was just a nickname that your friends used to call you." 

Max nods, which sends a few strands of her new long hair over her face and she raises her hand up to brush it out of the way before saying softly, "That sounds good to me, Warren." Max then slowly gets onto her feet and says "I guess we better get out of here before the other guys show up, I'd hate to have to explain why I'm dressed in men's clothing." 

Max wraps the white jacket around her form, trying to hide it and before the two of them can walk out. They hear voices coming from down the hallway, with one of them belonging to a member of their club! Unknown voice says. "I tell you Fox, the yell came from this direction." Fox says back "How can you be sure? It sounded like it echoed through the whole school!" Unknown voice: "Just humor me then and let's check it out." Fox says, "Alright, alright… anything to get you to shut up, Jacob" 

Max swears softly a moment before Warren walks out the door and before she can react Warren says, "Hi Fox! Hey, what are you guys doing down here?" Max carefully listens by the edge of the door while keeping out of sight and hears the three talking. Fox says, "Warren, we were just investigating that yell that we heard. What are you doing here?" Warren hehs and smiles as he says, "I came by to pick up some of Max's notes that he'd left in the lab… " 

At this, Fox looks really nervous and says, "He had some notes in the lab?" Warren nods and says, "Yep, and I don't think he's going to be all that happen that you blew them up, along with the rest of the lab." Jacob just chuckles at the uneasiness of Fox as he says, "It's not my fault! I'm forced to work with inferior materials when building a work of art!" Warren just shakes his head as he says back, "Well Fox, you know it's going to us a while to repair the lab and I can handle that, but Max's notes were irreplaceable." 

Jacob pats Fox on the back and says, "Hey buddy, I think we better get out of here before Max finds out what happened to the lab." Warren says, "I guess I could tell him that I couldn't find the notes. Looking at his watch Uh-oh, we better get going school is about to start and I don't want to have to stand in the hallway the whole period." The other two nod in agreement and take off down the hallway towards their classes, leaving Max all alone in the destroyed lab where she sighs at the sight of the mess and slumps down against the wall to bury her face in her hands and cry. 

Back in class 

The teacher looks about and says, "Mr. Warren, do you know where Max is?" Warren says, "Yes sir, he won't be coming to class today because he wasn't feeling well." And thinks to himself, "Poor Max, I wonder how he's… she's holding up all by herself?" The teacher says "Very well, Mr. Warren." And goes on to finish checking his list of students to see who else is tardy or absent before starting the class. 

Throughout the class, Warren would occasionally glance at the empty seat that was Max's, which was to the right of him. Thinking quietly as he drones out what the teacher is saying, "I wonder if I'd be handling it as well as Max if I'd been suddenly turned into a beautiful girl, like he was…" 

Meanwhile at the destroyed lab, in that very instant 

Things were not going well for Max, as he'd finally managed to stop crying and stand up to take a long look around the room, with his eyes going everywhere but the place he didn't want to look at but would have to… the table where his notes were. When Max's eyes slowly come to rest on the table, he almost cries again but instead gets angry and walks over briskly to the table and stops, eyeing the bomb that had blown up and thus destroyed his notes. 

Whispering barely loud enough for his own ears he says "So much for Plan C…" before his eyes slowly go back to the black and charred notes that had been right next to it. Looks at the folder that, that is all but ashes and black, wrinkled paper pieces. Max yells up at the ceiling "Why??" and the force of his yell causes a piece of paper to flutter down from the ceiling and land perfectly on his nose. 

Part 3? (Just how big is this origin story going to get??) 

Back to Mandy, this is her story after all…

Back when we'd left Mandy, she'd just discovered that she wasn't going to fully revert to becoming a girl, leaving her a mix of Panda and girl. With Luan's help she'd managed to pull herself together enough to stop crying hours later, even though it had meant that the two of them had missed school. 

Mandy is sitting down in Luan's home beside the TV set, which is on and talking about the news in the town. Mandy says "Thank you Luan… I know you missed school because of me…" Luan hands Mandy some tea as she sits down from across her friend and says "Nonsense, we're friends. I would never leave you when you needed me, and besides I owe you…" with Luan looking a bit sad at Mandy.   


Mandy slowly sips her tea and looks up at Luan, seeing the sadness. "Luan, Thank you… I don't know what I would have done without you here." Mandy says, as she looks back down at her tea while unable to face the fact that she had considered ending it all right there and then, when she had realized she wasn't changing back to normal. 

Luan looks over at Mandy, holding her own hands in a tight grip as she thought angrily at Max since he had been the one responsible for all this! Which quickly turns into a soft sigh as she looks at Mandy, looking so sad and even though she now had a light bit of fur on her face she could tell that Mandy had been having a good cry. 

Mandy sips more of her tea and softly whispers, but it's loud enough for Luan to hear "What will I do now…? I can't go anywhere like this." Luan reaches out and takes Mandy's into hers and with the meeting of their eyes, Mandy knew that whatever it took, Luan would be there to see her through it, and Mandy thought "I'm so lucky to have her for a friend…" Even as Luan thought "I'll take care of you, I promise Mandy on my honor…" 

Just then on the TV, a news report comes on about the Science Club rivalry between the two schools and that the one reporter couldn't wait to see what new things that will be revealed that afternoon! Mandy gasps "Luan! I totally forgot! You need to go so you can win!" 

Luan says, "No Mandy, I can't just leave you here all by yourself. It can wait for another day…" Mandy shakes her head as she says, "No Luan, you have to go! If for no other reason, than to get Max back for this!" Raising her arms a little to indicate her 'condition' before continuing to say "Please Luan, Go!" 

Luan stands up and says with some fire and a good bit of anger in her eyes "Alright, I'll go Mandy but I'm not leaving you by yourself. You're going to come with me to that Science Club Tournament." Mandy is still sitting down as she looks up in despair "How can I go out like this?" and tightens her grip on the glass in her hand. Luan says, "I think I have an idea, be right back!" and runs off into another part of the house, only to return with some rain gear which has a hood that would cover her face. Mandy's eyes widen as Luan softly smiles "When I'm finished, no one will be able to tell that you're not anything but a girl underneath… we better hurry though, the tournament meets right after school." 

Later at the Science Club Tournament 

Mandy whispers to Luan from her 'disguise' for what seems to Luan like the 16th time since leaving the house. "I can't believe you talked me into this! I'll be spotted for sure!" Luan says again as reassuringly as she can, "Mandy, listen… there is going to be too much stuff going on here for anyone to care about one person in rain gear and on top of that, looking around with her eyes to indicate the crowd they were already surrounded by no one has noticed yet have they?" and Luan relaxes a little as she hears Mandy's sigh from underneath and the whisper from her, "Ok… but I am still worried." 

Luan says with a bit of edge on her voice as she thinks of Max, "Don't worry Mandy, I will make sure that Max and his band of misfits won't be winning anything. They will pay for what they did to you." Leaving a silent Mandy thinking about how Luan might be a tiny bit more upset than she was… thinking to herself then, "Maybe it's the shock…" before she starts walking behind Luan to follow her to the place where it will all start in a few minutes. 

Mandy's eyes ever so alert and watching the crowds for any sign that they knew she was not a normal girl anymore, but like Luan had said there was too much going on, too many distractions for them to care about one person. Walking through many crowds with her new parts wanting to scramble up the nearest tree and through force of will alone, she stopped herself from doing that with the few trees that they passed before finally sighing a breath of relief when the two of them stand before the Hebereke Science Club where something large was covered in a white sheet that had the label "St. Hebereke Property" on it. 

Carla says "Hi Luan! I'm glad you could make it. When I didn't see you in school today, I got worried and thought that they tried to kidnap you or something." Luan's expression softened in sadness for a moment before she recovered and smiled "Hey, those guys couldn't water a yard without first getting themselves all wet!" and laughs, with the rest of them laughing as well while Mandy just smiled under her disguise. 

Shelia, one of the other Science Club members girls who unlike most of the others who'd long ago thought the white coats for labs were too tacky, was wearing a white lab coat and noticed the new stranger among them and says, "Hey Luan, who's that in the heavy raingear behind you?" Luan sweats for a sec as she tries to think of something to say, but before can it is Mandy who solves the problem by saying "Shhh! Its me, Mandy in disguise until my tournament later." 

Shelia and the others nod, understanding even as Luan seems to facefault even as she realizes "The Martial Arts Gymnastics Tournament!! I forgot all about it!" Turning to Mandy, and looking at where Mandy's eyes are and can imagine the sadness in her friend's eyes at not being able to fight in the tournament that she'd given so much of her heart into. Balling her right hand into a fist, she promises herself that Max and the others will not get away with this! 

Luan forces herself to relax for Mandy's sake and turns back to face the girls "We're going to clobber that bunch of losers that the Furikan High guys are!" Carla and the other cheer for a few moments and then they all start to get ready, and keeping quiet towards Mandy so as not to give her away to any potential rival gymnastists. 

Luan gets a moment to silently whisper to Mandy, "Are you alright?" Mandy just nods to her but Luan says with her heavy heart in her throat, "I'm sorry Mandy… I know how much it meant to you, the tournament…" Luan hears a soft "It is ok…" and the sagging shoulders of someone who was sad, but at least they weren't the shoulders of someone in defeat, which reassured her that Mandy would be all right eventually. 

Time passes as the girls finally finishes setting up their project that they'd prepared to beat their rivals with and one by one they start opening cans of soda that Shelia had brought with her in a cooler. Carla notices that there is a extra soda can in the cooler and says as she looks at their hidden friend "Hey, I bet you're pretty hot in there. Do you want a soda?" With a nod from the hood as the reply, so Carla picks up the soda from the cooler and tosses it to Mandy who uses a ribbon to snatch it from the air and quickly pulls it into her gear where a soft crack hiss is heard and a soft, but audible "Thanks Carla" is heard from within. Carla smiles and nods her head in a "You're welcome" before turning her back to talk to the other girls. 

After about fifteen minutes passes, there is an announcement over the speakers that the Science Club Contest was about to begin. Luan looked around after the announcement and saw that Mandy had pulled back further to keep out of sight as watchful, eager eyes all turned towards them to see what exciting new stuff was to be revealed! 

Mandy pulled the raincoat closer around her body and when she felt that no one was watching, she leapt up onto a nearby roof where she could see the large crowd gathering around her friends and around the rival. She glared at them before noticing that they were missing a partner, Max! 

Mandy started to look over the whole crowd as she wondered where he could be. She thought to herself "Shouldn't Max have taken the cure for his…" She found herself unable to finish even that thought as her eyes drifted back towards her friend Luan and a thought occurred to her. "What if Max is still trying to sabotage their stuff in revenge for what happened to him?" 

Luan and her friends were under a barrage of questions by eager and curious people about what they had under the sheet and all of them replied that they'd all find out in time. Luan spots her friend up on a nearby roof and sees that she is scanning the crowd. She thought to herself, "I wonder who she is looking for? Max, and the others should be at their spot to show off whatever they invented." With a bit of sarcasm, she knew that those boys wouldn't be much of a threat since they always won anyway. She sees Mandy looking at them, staring at their area as if looking for someone and wonders… Pulling out binoculars, she sees that Max isn't at their booth and realizes what Mandy is doing! 

Mandy is still looking down when she notices that Luan realizes that Max isn't at the table, and they both from their positions start to look for Max. However, Mandy gets a funny feeling that she is missing something but can't quite put her finger on it until she takes a sip from her soda and sees her lightly furry hand. With a start, she realizes that the perfect disguise would be right out in the open as a girl! 

Luan is still looking for Max and spots a couple of guys in what might have their attempts at disguises but she dismisses them as Max since they are all poorly done. Mandy then gets her attention by waving her arm at her while still keeping it covered in the raincoat, it is then she sees that Mandy exposes her hand up to her elbow and Luan's jaw drops before Mandy points at it and then the crowd. Mandy does this a few more times before pulling them back into the raincoat and Luan can tell that she is looking again. Luan thinks, "Why did Mandy take such a risk to do that? What was she trying to say?" Thinking about the past few hours, she remembers that the potion had also affected Max! Quickly she looks up at Mandy to mouth, "You think…?" with a nod her only answer. 

Luan thinks "Now what? I have absolutely no idea what Max would look like as a girl! It's the perfect disguise for him! Err… her" With her that in mind, Luan starts to scan the crowd for any familiar looking girls about Max's age. After a few moments, she is interrupted by Carla tapping her on the shoulder and saying, "Are you looking for someone?" Luan replies with a bit of bitterness in her voice, "No… just thought I'd keep a eye out for any last minute sabotages by those creeps." Carla blinks at that for a moment before says, "Just forget about those losers, we're up in a few moments. So they're too late, and I think we both know whatever they try would fail" and ends that with a joking smile, which makes Luan smile back, a bit softly though. "You're right, we'll show those guys who really rules at Science!" 

Luan goes back to the stand where their project is set up and waits anxiously as the judges walk over to their table, smiling and talking to each other. Carla leans over to whisper, "I just know we're going to win…" before moving back to standing, or whatever passes for it with her fidgeting. Luan takes one quick look around for Max or Mandy, and sees that neither of them around. 

Judge Nadeena is the first to approach the girls and with a warm smile that speaks that she is on their side, she says, "Are you girls ready?" Carla is the first to speak and says, "Yes Ma'am! We're all set!" and reaches out to grab the sheet that is covering their project even as the other two judges, come to a stop alongside Nadeena. Carla quickly yanks the sheet off and somehow manages to tell all three judges exactly what it was and what it did all in one breath! 

Judge Carlos says, "Do you mind demonstrating for us?" to Carla, and she nods before she proceeds to do just that. Everything goes without a hitch and with all the judges and excitement around their booth, Luan forgot all about Max and her friend. Eventually the three impressed judges walk off, but not before Judge Damon says to the whole group "Most impressive, we'll let you know what we decide after we've seen the other schools and their projects." At this the girls all smile and giggle amongst themselves, whispering and talking about how they're going to win and where they're going to put the trophy. 

Just then Carla spots Mandy in her disguise still and hand-waves her over as she says, "I think we're going to win! The judges seemed very impressed with our project!" Somehow a smile is projected in Mandy's voice as she says, "I'm sure you're right, Carla, I saw your presentation and I was impressed even though I didn't know what you were talking about half the time" and giggles a little, causing Carla to smile big and giggle along. 

A group of curious students from another school wander by and start talking to the girls about their project and all but Luan get drawn in by their questions as she leans to whisper to Mandy, "Where did you go?" with the same low whispered reply, "I thought I saw Max, but it turned out to be someone else." 

Luan gives a quick glance at her Science Club friends and whispers, "Mandy, I think we should tell them… they might be able to help you with your… condition." With silence as her reply for a few long moments, making Luan start to worry before a slightly strained whisper is heard, "I guess I have no other choice… I certainly can't go to Max and his Club, they'd probably try to complete what happened to me rather than help me." 

Mandy dips her head forward as if in a sigh, even though Luan balls her hand in a fist with thoughts of "DAMN MAX!! She's probably right too!! I won't let that happen!" before finally, slowly opening her clenched hand. Exhaling a bit of breath that she didn't realize that she had, she whispers to Mandy, "I promise you, I'll do everything I can to help return you back to normal." 

Before Luan could hear a reply from Mandy, Carla put her hand on Luan's shoulder and said excitedly, "Look! Here come the judges!" and points down the street. Sure enough, the three judges were approaching them and smiling as they spotted the girls watching their approach. Shelia says softly enough to almost be a whisper, but loud enough to be heard by the others, "I hope we win… I'd hate to see Furikan win after all." With agreeing murmurs from everyone, but the strongest one seemed especially from Luan. 

Judge Nadeena smiled as she and the other two judges came to a stop before them to say "Congratulations, to every one of you… All the judges just want you to know that we all were impressed by how hard you worked on your project and how imaginative it was." Nadeena paused, knowing that this would make the group all the more anxious to hear who had won after her 'recycled' speech, to which she had given every Science Club that had participated that day. "You all should feel very proud of yourselves…(pausing again, loving this part) Your school won first place!" and up went an almost deafening cheer from all the girls of the Science Club. 

Judge Nadeena gives them a blue 1st place ribbon and a paper that told them where they could pick up the trophy, which was the Nerima Trophy Center. "Just give them that paper and collect your trophy." Nadeena says as she smiles, "I've already phoned ahead and told them to put your group's name on it. It should be ready by 6pm." Shelia jumps forward and gives each of the judges a big hug as she thanks them. 

After some slightly embarrassed "You're Welcome" from the three judges and they walk off to award the remaining school groups. Shelia who is smiling so big that Luan was worried that the smile might get stuck that way on her face turns to everyone to say "WE WON!!!" and tries to give a group hug to everyone although Mandy sees it coming and dodges it but smiles at her friends enjoying their victory. 

Part 4: The Secret?? 

Later at the Science Club, the girls are all smiling and softly giggling in happiness as they look at the trophy that they'd placed within the plasti-glass case, which allowed everyone to see the brand new trophy to be seen by anyone, anytime. Mandy is hanging by Luan's side and whispering, "I'm happy for you guys, you earned it." And with those words, Luan felt even happier than she had a few moments ago, turning to her friend she says "Thank you, Mandy."

All the girls, walk into the room that is their lab and Shelia closes the door to ensure privacy since few ever bothered them whenever it was shut ever since the last time someone did, it nearly blew up the entire room! Shelia and Carla start examining a few projects that they had running while Luan approaches Mandy who is still in her disguise and whispers "What are you going to do about the Martial Arts Gymnastics Tournament, Mandy?" 

Mandy whispers back to Luan, keeping an eye on the other girls to make sure they don't come close enough to accidentally overhear them, "I have it under control Luan…" Luan looks puzzled and whispers, "What do you mean? You can't really expect to go as you are in disguise…" Mandy whispers, "Luan, I can go… I have a plan." Luan whispers back to Mandy, "Ok… I hope it's a good plan, because you're going to need one." Mandy just nods to Luan before whispering a little bit more louder, "I've also been thinking about what you said, and I think we can trust them to try to help me find a solution to my (pauses for a moment) problem." 

Luan turns her head to look at the other girls and while still looking at them and says, "I think its our best bet…" and before she can say anything more, Carla turns her head just enough for her eye to catch sight of Luan and Mandy before giving out a cry of surprise! Luan and Shelia both turn their heads to see what caused Carla to cry out like that and while Luan remains quiet, having already seen her friend's change Shelia manages to cry out, "Wha… (Realizing its Mandy) What happened??" loud enough to make Luan wonder if anyone will come in to see what all the noise is about. 

Mandy gives a soft, almost silent sigh as she removes her disguise which allows the girls a chance to see just how total her change is and leaves everyone but Luan with their jaws on the floor! Luan is the first to speak by saying, "This is Mandy, and I'm sure that you all realize by now that she has changed a bit... and needs our help." Carla just blinks for a few moments before she can get over her shock and says, "B-b-but how did this happen?? Are you alright Mandy?" To which Mandy steps forward, inwardly sighing as the girls take a half-step back in shock and nods to Carla before her eyes meet every one of them. "Yes Carla, I'm still the same old Mandy that you have always known on the inside, it is just my body that was changed." 

Luan steps forward to stand beside her furry friend and says with a cold fury in her eyes that the girls take a full step back, each unsure why she is so angry until her next words, "Our rivals did this to her... The Furikan Science Club, but the one who is mostly responsible is Max." The response was a bunch of BRIGHTLY glowing girls with a fury in their eyes that nearly matched Luan's with as equally angry statements. (Most of which I won't print here because of the harsh language that is involved, and many involved doing nasty things to Max in particular.) 

Shelia says, "Why did they do this to Mandy? She's not on the Science Team!" Luan looks down sadly and says, "That's my fault, they had set a trap to get me at my house and Mandy's quick reflexes is the only thing that stopped me from turning into a complete panda." She sighs and continues, "Max wanted to get us to drop out in exchange for the cure, but Mandy freaked out and attacked Max and then destroyed the vial in their hands before her transformation into a Panda was complete... causing this half-girl, half-panda form that you see now." Carla looks at Mandy and says while observing her, "Fascinating, Mandy must have been injected with just the right amount at the right time to balance out the stuff that was turning her into a Panda." Shelia interrupts and says, "Can it Carla, this isn't some science project here, this is Mandy! We've got to help her!" Carla looks at Shelia and nods, "I know but it is going to take time to whip up a cure..." (thinking to herself: If there is one...) Suddenly a thought occurs to Shelia, "Luan, you said the vial was destroyed in their hands. Who's hand was holding the cure for Mandy when it broke?" 

Carla's attention breaks out of the possible ideas she had in her mind to listen to the answer. Mandy answers before Luan by saying, "Max was holding the vial, and he got some of the potion in his system too..." Both Carla and Luan break into laughter as they realize what that means, "Y-You mean Max is now a Maxine? laughs I couldn't imagine a more fitting fate for Mr. Macho!" Luan says loudly, "What makes you think he hasn't taken the cure by now??" which snaps the two laughing girls into a more serious attitude. Carla speaks first, "If that's true, then that means..." Shiela finishes for Carla, "Max had another vial and we can cure Mandy!" Luan nods and says, "Here's the problem, how do we go about getting it from him? He's not going to exactly share it with us, and the clock's ticking away." Shelia says, "What do you mean? Is there only so long before its permanent?" Luan shakes her head, "No, Mandy has her own tournament to go to." Which makes both Carla and Shiela both facefault and say in near stereo, "I completely forgot about that!" 

Shiela was the first one to speak, "What are you going to do about tournament Mandy? Without you our school will surely lose!" Luan then says, "Don't you think Mandy knows that? I'm sure she feels bad enough that she can't enter it." Carla moves closer to Mandy and says "I'm sure we speak for us all that we'll do all we can to cure you before the tournament." Mandy slowly smiles to her friend, reassuring her that she believes her, "I know you will Carla, I know I can trust all of you... but until then let's keep this our secret until the tournament begins ok?" with Carla nodding as well as Shiela obviously still in a form of shock. However Luan was long past it and warning bells silently went off in her head about the way Mandy had phrased that but she couldn't quite pin down as to why. Luan then looks at Mandy and sees on the face of her friend a silent determination and with a gasp, she realizes what Mandy meant! "She couldn't! She wouldn't!" she thinks to herself even as Shiela and Carla glance at her with puzzled expressions on their faces but the way Mandy's face as she looked at her coolly spoke true to her fears. Luan shakes herself out of it and gives Mandy that look that says she won't tell with a barely noticeable nod from her with a soft smile in thanks. 

Carla says, "Mandy some of the experiments might hurt but we'll be doing it all in towards a cure for you, ok?" Mandy nods and says, "I know, but I think we should try getting the cure from the creator of the potion... Max" and the cool rage hidden in her eyes that Luan can barely see even as both Carla and Shiela both agree to go immediately over to their rival school for the cure. Luan thinks to herself as they all leave the lab in a rush, "What are you hiding?" a while later outside Furikan Shiela stands outside the locked gates of the school, "Darn, its all locked up! We'll have to come in the morning when it is unlocked." Mandy steps forward, back inside her disguise and says "Not a problem..." and then without any warning a ribbon lances out and cleanly slices the lock in half so that they fall with a soft thud onto the ground. "Let's go..." Mandy says and pushes one of the gates open without waiting for a reply. Shiela, Carla, and Luan look a bit nervous entering the schoolgrounds of their rival, worrying about boobytraps and such. 

All four of them make their way through the empty, darkening school with the sun setting just barely over the tops of the nearby buildings until they end up in front of the lab that they knew their rivals had concocted the potion that turned their friend into a half-girl, half-panda person. Nobody thought it strange that the door fell off its hinges with the entire lab practically black and destroyed as if a massive explosion had occurred and the reason for this was that this was very common and a joke among them all about their science skills. 

Carla wandered over to the least destroyed portion of the lab while the others explored the rest of the destroyed lab with a cool breeze coming in every so often through the windows that had been blown out in the explosion with what available light slowly becoming less and less. Mandy walked over to the place where the center of the blast had obviously had taken place with pieces of glass and charred paper all around it. Shelia and Luan checked out the lockers that were damaged but not as badly as the rest of the room. Luan says, "This looks promising..." Shelia nods as she says, "Yeah, it looks like they reinforced the lockers to withstand their daily explosions." Carla picked up a piece of paper that was half burnt at the edge of the area she was checking out and whispered "Oh No..." while Mandy brushes her furry fingers through the ashes, finding only tattered remains of a book that belonged to Max and a deep fear of dread ran down her back. 

Luan and Shelia manage to get Max's locker open, only to discover a couple of science books, a white smock, and some weird oversea science magazines. "It isn't here! I bet little creep has it with him!" says Shelia in anger. Mandy softly says, just barely loud enough for them to hear her, "I don't think so..." Shelia turns to face Mandy to say, "Where else could he have it then?" Carla wanders over with her eyes misty and holding a piece of paper, offering Mandy a comforting touch on her shoulder even as Mandy says even softer but still loud enough to be heard by the approaching Luan and Shelia, "Right here..." with her fingers covered up in black ashes before she continues to say, "Next to the explosion..." Shelia loud gasp and just as quick cry of "Oh no! Please no...!" Carla holds up the paper she held up and says, "It is true, look at this" and even Mandy turns to look at it. On the paper it reads, "Max's plans for revenge... 1.Attempt to recreate a potion to cure myself with. 2. If that fails, destroy all remaining papers regarding the cure so that Mandy can never change back. (This part gets ALL the girls seeing red) 3. Attend their school and ruin it from within. 4. Disappear after meeting any of the above." with plans one and two crossed out in red and a mark on number four as if it had not yet been done. 

After a few moments of hushed silence, all that anyone could say was "I… don't believe it! It has got to be a trick!" and those very words came from Luan. Carla and Shelia both looked at Mandy to see her reaction and while she didn't say a word, her face with teary eyes spoke volumes. A very visible battle aura became visible around Luan as she stared at the paper before Carla turns to look more closely at the paper and says, "You're right, it is a trick Luan…" at which everyone facefaults. 

When everyone recovers from their facefault, Luan is the first to speak by saying, "What? How can you tell Carla?" with every one of the girls watching Carla for her answer. "I know Max, the crossed out plans mean that he didn't or couldn't do it for whatever reason. This is backed up by the lab's obvious clues and destruction." Shelia says "What clues? All I see is that a bomb went off in here!" Carla looks at Shelia and says, "Exactly, and where did we find that paper? Right next to the bomb's remains, where we would be able to find it for sure." Luan says, "But how can you be so sure that Max didn't put it there after making arrangements to disappear?" "Because I know Max, and after being changed into a girl, I think he would want revenge. And he has not done that, not yet in any real sense to him, because he'll want to make all of us suffer and watch our reaction before he even attempts to leave, maybe even gloat a little." Carla replies with a look of deep thought in her eyes, and perhaps that is why she missed the obvious reaction from everyone in the room, which was realization that Carla was right about one thing. Max would want to gloat and he hadn't done that yet. Max had not also gotten any measurable revenge on them, just on Mandy and not in any way that she knew he was aware of. Chaos erupted in the room as every girl but Carla was planning terrible things to Max. While Carla, who was in deep thought at the moment since she was trying to figure out just what Max really was planning and a nagging part of her told her that she was missing something… but what? Part 5: Mandy's Decision… 

It was a sunny day with only a few clouds to cast shadows as they lazily drifted through the sky while Mandy practiced in a Luan's yard. Carla and Sheila were talking about Mandy's problem and the possible things that they could do to help her in the tournament. Carla says, "Maybe we could shave her fur?" and Sheila says, "No, that wouldn't work because she still has some signs of a panda's body." Carla then says, "How about making a human costume that looks like her?" and Carla replies, "We could try that but if Mandy gets hit the wrong way, she'll be exposed." The thought of Mandy being exposed as a panda-girl made both girls go into deep thought about the ramifications. 

Luan walks over to Mandy as she performs a perfect hoop toss to a stuffed target that resembled Max in the only the vaguest way, like a giant voodoo doll. Mandy caught the hoop on its return and turns to Luan, having heard her approach and Luan says, "Mandy, why are you practicing? I don't know if we're going to be able to get your cure in time for you." Mandy puts down her hoop next to some clubs and other stuff that she'd been practicing with and says, "I plan to be ready when we do get a cure, Luan. I don't want Max to win… he **won't** win!" with a bit of fire in her eyes as she finishes. 

Luan nods in thought as she silently agrees since she didn't want Max to win either, not after what he did to Mandy. Luan thinks to herself, "I promise you, I will do whatever I can to help you. Even if there isn't a cure, I will make sure that you don't have to suffer for what Max did to you just because he was trying to get at us." Luan walks off to join Carla and Sheila while Mandy uses her ribbon the damage the max-like voodoo doll and she misses the glowing aura around Mandy and the way that it falls into many small pieces the size of ice-cubes onto the ground with a soft thud. 

Carla and Sheila were still debating on what they could do when Luan's phone rang and since it was just the four of them there, Luan picks up the phone to say "Hello, this is the Tigers residence." and nearly drops the phone when she hears Ginger's voice. "Hi Luan, this is Ginger... Is Mandy there? She hasn't been to practice lately and I've been worried. She hasn't been answering the phone at her place." Luan gets really nervous and does her best in trying to keep it out of her voice, "Uh... No, I haven't seen her today Ms. Ginger but she did tell me yesterday that she was going to be at the tournament no matter what and you know how she is." She can almost hear the nodding of Ginger's head as she replies "Yes, you're right... There isn't anything that is going to stop Mandy from being in the tournament short of being in a full body cast. I guess I'm worrying over nothing. Thank you Luan and if you see her, remind her that we have one more meeting before the tournament to go over some last minute details." Luan looks over at Mandy and nods even though Ginger wouldn't see it, "I'll be sure to tell her if I see her Ms. Ginger." Ginger replies "Thank you and goodbye" and with that, she hangs up but Luan was already putting the phone down and turning towards Mandy.   



End file.
